The following day, we started our trek from Vigan to the tip of Northern Luzon. This is the first time I’ve hopped across towns in the Philippines and it turns out to be not that big a deal. Just grab the jeep going your way and hop on. Of course you must first know where you’re going and where you’re getting off. If you do not know where to get off, just ask the driver, he’ll be happy to bring you there. As for us, our destination will be Magsingal Church, in Magsingal town still in the province of Ilocos Sur.
The town of Magsingal is a few kilometers north of Vigan City. There is only a small highway going up all the way north but then the traffic here isn’t really that bad either. The roads are surprisingly well paved here in northern Luzon, in sharp constrast to the pot-holed excuse of a road they have in the big city of Manila, then again, there aren’t as many vehicles abusing the roads here either.
We took a jeepney going towards Magsingal town and arrived around half an hour later. The ride was nice and comfortable since the jeepney wasn’t really packed here. Actually the town of Magsingal is more like a small collection of houses in the area. We got off at the highway where the church was. As it was in Vigan, the center of Magsingal is the church titself hough it doesn’t have a plaza of its own, directly across the church is the town hall of Magsingal.
Magsingal Church’s design is described as baroque, and it was became a parish in the year 1676. The church itself is dedicated to St. William the Hermit. It is famous for its wooden altar which is still in use. The facade of the church is wonderfully preserved and looks like it was built only recently. The belfy on the left of the church however, looks much older.
A tour around the church grounds reveals a branch of the National Museum here a Magsingal Church. I find it very amusing to see these musuems appear out of nowhere since you never see them in Manila. The museum itself is not that big, it seems to be well maintained though. There are some ethnic artifacts that are on display here to give an idea of how life was back then.
Magsingal Church is a nice place to stop by for a visit, other than the church and the museum there really isn’t anything here of note to keep you here.
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